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Copilot Music and Sound LLC (Limited liability company) (commonly known as Copilot Strategic Music + Sound, Copilot Music, or Copilot) is a New York-based music content and strategy company launched in 2008 by partners Jason Menkes and Ravi Krishnaswami. Copilot provides music production, music composition, music licensing, sonic branding, sound design, and creative consultation services throughout the television, gaming, film, advertising, and interactive industries.[1]

Notable works

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Dishonored "Drunken Whaler"

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To promote Bethesda Softworks and Arkane Studios' 2012 release of the stealth action-adventure video game Dishonored, Copilot produced an arrangement of the public domain song "Drunken Sailor" for the game's trailer, entitled "Drunken Whaler".[2]

The track's vocal composition included child actors, adult singers who could imitate children, and children of family and friends. The instrumentation used included violins, detuned and distorted guitars, and a "whaler stomp" created by stomping on wooden boards to create a pulsating percussion sound.[3]

Due to the popularity of the track among video game fans, Bethesda commissioned Copilot to create a full-length version of the song which was offered as a free download on the publisher's website. In September 2012, Bethesda hosted a remix contest of "Drunken Whaler", providing Copilot's stems of the individual tracks for fans to create their own arrangements. The creative team at Copilot were invited to review and judge all of the entries.[4]

The 2012 Video Game Awards, broadcast on Spike TV, included "Drunken Whaler" in a live orchestral tribute to the Game of the Year nominees, led by Assassin's Creed III composer Lorne Balfe. "Drunken Whaler" was the only section of the medley to feature music from a game's marketing campaign, rather than its in-game score.[5]

Dishonored 2 "Gold Dust Woman"

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Copilot's original arrangement of Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman" accompanied the Dishonored 2 gameplay trailer at the 2016 E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles.[6]

Fallout 4

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Copilot worked with Bethesda Softworks to write a theme song for Nuka world, in the "Nuka World" Downloadable Content scenario.

Fallout 76

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Copilot worked with Bethesda Softworks to create a cover of John Denver's hit single "Take Me Home, Country Roads" for the trailer of their upcoming game Fallout 76. The lead vocals of the song were performed by Scout Ford[7] of New York-based a capella group Spank,[8] and officially released on iTunes on July 4, 2018, with all proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity.[9] The song reached No. 1 on the iTunes singles chart, No. 41 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and No. 21 on Billboard Country Digital Songs chart.[10]

Visa "Samba of the World"

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In 2014 Copilot was commissioned to oversee music production on Visa's "Samba of the World", a digital campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Made in collaboration with AKQA, this interactive music video experience allowed fans to listen and watch 32 different musical arrangements and films, based on 32 different countries, in real time.[11]

Each of the 32 competing countries in the World Cup were represented by an arrangement of Carlinhos Brown's 2005 hit single "Maria Caipirnha (Samba da Bahia)" and adapted in collaboration with local composers, bands, and musicians.[12]

Copilot's initial research focused on the ethnomusicology of each country, detailing both the local popular musical genres in 2014, as well as the historical folk instrumentation unique to its citizens. After determining a tempo that could be applied across the different genres, a shared structure and musical key was given to all creators and collaborators upon which they could develop the unique sounds of their countries.[13]

Copilot's collaborators

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Country Collaborator
Algeria Akim El Sikameya
Argentina Didi Gutman
Belgium BLEU NUIT - Benoît Pirson
Bosnia and Herzegovina Zana Messia & DJ Ray Mack
Brazil Satellite Audio
Cameroon Sally Nyolo
Chile James H. Frazier
Colombia Palenke Soultribe
Costa Rica Ojo de Buey
Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Denis D. Lactif
Croatia Davor Hercog
Ecuador Lamine Fellah
England Olly Bridgewater
France TA-DAH STUDIOS
Germany Metatechnik
Ghana Appietus
Greece Mike Stoupakis
Honduras Ivan Duran and Guayo Cedeño
Iran Mona Kayhan
Italy JoyCut
Japan Kenji Ichiyanagi
Korea Wen-Kai Ying, Kyle Kim, Tom Jessop
Mexico Gustavo Naranjo
Netherlands Freshbeat featuring Onearmed
Nigeria Pheelz
Portugal Diabo na Cruz
Russia Ellina Graypel
Spain BanjoMusic Studio
Switzerland Brian Bendahan
Uruguay Martin Fuks
U.S.A John Beltran

Visa also commissioned 32 local filmmakers to craft films alongside the musical arrangements that showcased regional dance moves, food enjoyed by fans, the type of gear they wear, and their country's football rituals and history. Copilot collaborated with director Saman Kesh (who served as overseeing advisor to each country's filmmaker) in order to assure the music and visuals worked hand-in-hand.[14][15]

The interactive website[16] allowed users to click on each of the flag of any competing country to jump to that nation's musical arrangement and film without losing the groove of the song.

Wolfenstein: The New Order

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A large part of the marketing campaign for Bethesda Softworks' 2014 release for Wolfenstein: The New Order focused on 1960s pop music to describe the video game's alternate history in which Germany had won World War II and ruled the world.

Bethesda, AKQA and Copilot invented a fictional state-owned German record label, Neumond Recording Company. The label promoted 10 fictional German pop artists all corresponding with specific pop music genres from the 1960s. Each artist was given a full biographical backstory and their singles were packaged with photographed and designed album cover artwork.[17]

Production

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Given the sensitive nature of the game's subject matter, the songs were initially written in English, to make sure lyrics reflected Wolfenstein's alternate history without creating content that could be used for actual propaganda outside of the game. Furthermore, Copilot intentionally sought out a diverse, multi-cultural talent pool to perform the songs. Jason Menkes said in a Wall Street Journal article "I hired as many non-Aryans as I could for this project. A lot of our artists were Jewish or black or gay."[18] Among their collaborators were The Voice contestant Rino Galiano, and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble[19]

Songs

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Three existing 1960s pop songs were re-arranged in styles appropriate to the game setting, with lyrics translated into German. "House of the Rising Sun" was reinterpreted as a Bavarian waltz, with accordion, clarinets, and brass band. The lyric "there Is a house In New Orleans" was changed to "There is a house in New Berlin". "Nowhere To Run", originally by Martha & The Vandellas was given a more sinister mood with minor chords and machine gun sound effects. In contrast, the original John Lee Hooker blues hit "Boom Boom" was recreated in the style of Schlager, a simple, sanitized popular German musical genre that emerged after World War II, in part as a backlash against American rock'n'roll. The three cover songs were used in trailers for Wolfenstein: The New Order.[18]

Seven original songs were written for the label, each inspired by a different genre of 1960s pop music, but with lyrics that reflected the Wolfenstein universe.

The Comet Tails are a fictional surf rock band. To reflect the Wolfenstein alternate history in which the Nazi's have colonized the moon, Copilot wrote a song called "Weltraum Surfen" (or "Outer Space Surfing").

"Toe The Line" was written in the style of rebellious rock groups like The Rolling Stones and The Kinks, with propagandizing lyrics about how cool is it to follow the rules. The fictional band for "Toe The Line", The Bunkers, was inspired by British artists such as The Beatles and Dusty Springfield who recorded German versions of their hits. Unlike the other Neumond recordings that were sung by talent in Germany and Austria, Copilot worked with an English singer and taught him the German lyrics phonetically. In the Wolfenstein universe, English is a dying language, so Copilot intentionally kept the singer's mispronunciations to infer that the British band was being forced to sing in a language they do not understand.[20]

"Ich Bin Überall" (or "I Am Everywhere") by the fictional group Schwarz Rote Wellen was written the psychedelic rock style. As an artist under a (fictional) state-owned record label, songs about drug-use would be banned. Rather, the experimental lyrics in "Ich Bin Überall" reference Nazi association with occultism, with poetic, abstract descriptions of the game's large mecha guard robots as "the animal with the red eye" and "the seeing eye of the steel guardian is watching your every move".[20]

Victor & The Vokalitsen are a fictional vocal pop group inspired by artists like Jay & The Americans, The Four Seasons, and Tommy James & The Shondells. The song, "Berlin Boys & Stuttgart Girls" was played on Iggy Pop's weekly broadcast for BBC radio. During the radio special, Pop promoted the song as an obscure single from the 1960s, with no reference to it being from a fictional band or from a video game.[21]

Usage

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The Neumond songs were featured in trailers for the game, and could be heard throughout the game as source music. They also could all be obtained as in-game mission-specific collectables to be played later.

A website[22] was published dedicated to the fictitious record label, and a promotional film was produced[23] in the style of K-Tel International's late-night infomercials.[24]

At PAX East in Boston, Bethesda's promotional event for Wolfenstein: The New Order was presented as a Neumond Records release party.[25] Physical 7-inch 45-rpm vinyl singles were given out to attendees, and Copilot's songs and covers were performed live by a group of local musicians led by Emeen Zarookian of the Boston band, Spirit Kid.[26]

Bethesda also created a limited edition LP called "Wolfenstein Neumond Classics: Superhits of the 1960s", featuring of Copilot's productions. A limited run of 500 albums on 140g red vinyl was sold through the Bethesda store.[27]

World Wildlife Fund

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In 2013, Copilot contributed an original song called "Together" to the World Wildlife Fund's first iPad app, "WWF Together". The app was downloaded more than 300,000 times in the first week of release and over 1 million times in over 140 countries during 2013.[28][29] WWF Together was the winner of a 2013 Apple Design Award, was named Best of Show at the DC ADDY Awards[30] and Creativity International Awards,[31] and was featured in Apple's "10 of Apps that Wow" and "Great Free Apps" list.[32]

A second song, "Underneath the Wild Blue Light", was commissioned to accompany the launch of World Wildlife Fund's eBook app for iPad, WWF Explore[33] in 2015. A third song, "Endangered" written by Copilot partner Ravi Krishnawami under the name "Hybird" and was included in a 3-song EP[34] released in the same year.

In 2016, WWF Together was updated as part of Apple's "Apps for Earth" initiative,[35] and Copilot's music was also used in a behind-the-scenes video featured in the Washington Post.[36]

Accolades

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Work Award Category Result
Jell-O 2016 Association of Music Producers Awards Execution of a Sonic ID or Logo[37] Won
Samba of the World 2015 Cannes Lions Song Arrangement[38] Shortlisted
2015 Cannes Lions Cyber/ Web Campaign[38] Shortlisted
2015 AICP NEXT Awards Best Integrated Campaign[39] Shortlisted
2015 London International Awards Song Arrangement[38] Shortlisted
2015 Association of Music Producers Awards Most Effective Use of Music in a Non-Broadcast Medium[40] Won
Wolfenstein - New Order: Announcement Trailer 2014 Association of Music Producers Awards Best Use of Music in a Film or Game Trailer[41][42] Won
2014 CLIO Key Art Awards Music in a Game Trailer[43]  Gold
2014 Game Marketing Summit Outstanding Promotional Trailer[44]  Bronze
Dishonored Gameplay Trailer 2013 Association of Music Producers Awards Best Use of Music in a Film or Game Promo[45] Won
2013 AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Commercial Musical Arrangement[45] Shortlisted
2013 Game Marketing Summit Awards Best Use of Music in a Promo[45]  Bronze
2013 CLIO Key Art Awards Audio/Visual Technique[46]  Bronze
2012 London International Awards Music Adaptation[45] Shortlisted
Machinima Inside Gaming Awards Best Trailer Award[47] Won
World Wildlife Fund 2013 DC Ad Club Awards Best in Show[48] Won
Vena Cava 2011 AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Commercial Sound Design[49] Shortlisted

References

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  1. ^ "About | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  2. ^ "Post Magazine - Open House: Copilot Strategic Music + Sound". www.postmagazine.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  3. ^ "email : Webview : Copilot Enthralls Gamers with Creepy 'Dishonored' Anthem". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  4. ^ mikesuszek (16 September 2012). "Dishonored sea shanty 'The Drunken Whaler' available for free, remix contest announced". Engadget. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  5. ^ supreme234 (2012-12-29), VGA 2012 Game of the Year Orchestra by Lorne Balfe, retrieved 2016-08-15{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Get a First Look at Dishonored 2 Gameplay in this New E3 Trailer". Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  7. ^ https://www.facebook.com/scoutonline/ [user-generated source]
  8. ^ "Spank Doo Wop NYC-Expressway Music Inc". 24 February 2023.
  9. ^ @bethesda (4 July 2018). "Help rebuild America while listening to the soothing sounds of "Country Roads" from the #Fallout76 trailer. All of..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "Songs for Screens: How a John Denver Classic Resurfaced Thanks to 'Fallout 76'". 31 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Visa FIFA Samba of the World | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  12. ^ "Visa World Cup Campaign Shows Everyone Is Driven To Win--Even Nobel Peace Laureates". 2014-06-13. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  13. ^ "Visa FIFA Samba of the World | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  14. ^ "AKQA SF Shares 'The Samba of the World' for Visa". www.adweek.com. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  15. ^ "Samba of the World". Wefilm. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  16. ^ "Visa USA | Visa | Everywhere you want to be". usa.visa.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  17. ^ "Copilot's Alternate Universe Music for "Wolfenstein: The New Order" | Priya PR". priyapr.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  18. ^ a b Danton, Eric R. (8 April 2014). "'Wolfenstein: The New Order' Marketing Team Created Fictional Record Label For Promo Campaign". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  19. ^ "How The Makers Of "Wolfenstein: The New Order" Reimagined The Music Of The '60s--If The Nazis Won WWII". 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  20. ^ a b "How developers created a Nazi record label for Wolfenstein: The New Order". VentureBeat. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  21. ^ "Iggy Pop Spins a Copilot Song for BBC Radio | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  22. ^ "Wolfenstein: The New Order". www.neumondrecordings.com. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  23. ^ "Neumond Recordings Presents 'Neumond Classics'". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  24. ^ "Wolfenstein "Neumond Classics Infomercial"". Vimeo. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  25. ^ "Wolfenstein Rocks! The Fake German Rock of Wolfenstein: The New Order". 19 May 2014. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  26. ^ "Wolfenstein - PAX East Neumond Recordings Party.mp4". Vimeo. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  27. ^ "Various - Neumond Classics". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  28. ^ "Apps for Earth: Making of the WWF Together App". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  29. ^ "WWF Together". AKQA. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  30. ^ "2013 American Advertising Awards - Washington DC Winners List | AAF DC". American Advertising Awards. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  31. ^ "WWF Together - Education App Design Award". Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  32. ^ "WWF Together - Tomorrow Awards". tomorrowawards.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  33. ^ "WWF Creates First eBook: WWF Explore!". World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  34. ^ "E.P. #1 - Single by Hybird + Copilot on Apple Music". iTunes. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  35. ^ "Apple raises money for World Wildlife Fund with 'Apps for Earth' promotion". Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  36. ^ "Apps for Earth: Making of the WWF Together App". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  37. ^ "Jell-O Wins AMP Award | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-31. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  38. ^ a b c ""The Samba of the World" Honored at 2015 Cannes Lions and London International Awards | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  39. ^ "Copilot Shortlisted for the 2015 AICP Next Awards | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  40. ^ "Copilot Wins Big at the AMP Awards! | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  41. ^ "Copilot Wins AMP Award for Wolfenstein | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  42. ^ "AMP Awards Recap & The Best Ad Music of the Year". SonicScoop. 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  43. ^ "Copilot Wins Gold at Hollywood Reporter's Key Art Awards | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  44. ^ "Copilot Attends Game Marketing Summit, Awarded Bronze | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  45. ^ a b c d "The Drunken Whaler Nabs Multiple Awards! | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  46. ^ "Hollywood Reporter's Key Art Award | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  47. ^ "Copilot Enthralls Gamers with Creepy 'Dishonored' Anthem | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  48. ^ "WWF Wins "Best In Show" At DC Ad Club Awards | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  49. ^ "Copilot's Surreal Sound Design for Vena Cava Makes AICP Shortlist | Copilot Music + Sound". www.copilotmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
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